Stay by my side
by Los Malaventurados no Lloran
Summary: When Niichan married and moved to Osaka suddenly, my life is changed... And Usagi-san asked me to live with him?  From Misaki's PoV, read & review please
1. Osaka?

***I'm back. Missed me already? #kicked. As usual, sorry for my bad English, it's not my mother language so I suck in it***

"_Usagi-san, if you want to cry, that's okay…"_

Day by day passed since we hugged each other under the snow, but there's no slight difference of how he treats me. Usagi-san is still the Usami Akihiko I know. He's stubborn, and he often forces his own thoughts to me, even if I hate it. But at times, he can still be so sweet and caring. He still teaches me, as well.

"I will make you pass that Mitsuhashi test, and make Takahiro smile" he said.

His attitude towards Niichan is never changed, as always. Even if he knows that Niichan will get married, he still gives Niichan affection, and even tells him tips for a successful marriage. I know that Usagi-san is deeply hurt by his decision, considering his devotion and years he spent for this unrequited love, but he and Niichan still get along very well, maybe because both of them think that this is only a bound of friendship.

As there's nothing changed, I continue to live as I expected to. I still come to Usagi-san's condo to study, since the university entry exam is getting closer. And Usagi-san seems to never mention any word about Niichan's marriage. And tonight, I drop to his house again.

"When will your exam be held?" he asked me.

"Next week"

"Ah, it's getting closer. Be sure to prepare yourself well, I don't want you to fail" Usagi-san then gives me a bundle of paper. I opened it and breathed. It's last year's exam paper.

"If you want to pass, do these equations. I heard the problem type never changed year by year, they're just changing the numbers. Such a lazy ball" Usagi-san continued his word, and I already writing, trying to solve this hard problem.

"You know? Niichan's marriage day is the same as my test day. Will you come?" I finally asked the thing that I hesitated to ask before.

"Of course I will. Who wants to skip his best friend's marriage ceremony?" Usagi-san smiled, and then rubbed my hair. "Make sure you do well in your exam, and make him proud"

"Yes, sir" I smiled. Usagi-san seems very brave, but I noticed something different. I see loneliness in his blue eyes. I know, deep inside he doesn't want it to happen, but he also hates it when he becomes a burden to Niichan. I feel that somehow, Usagi-san had some characteristics in common with me.

"Ah, Usagi-san…"

"What's up, Misaki?" When he answered, I suddenly lose the words that I'm trying to say. It may be filling his already messed-up head, and I hate it if he thinks too much about me, and my beloved Niichan. I just want to make him feels at peace…

"N… Nothing, I just don't know how to do this…" I moved the topic.

"Baka. How many times do I need to tell you? First, you need to do this, and put this in the result. Divide it by two, and that's all…" as usual, he scolded me. I just want to see him like this…

After the lesson finally ends, I got back home, with a pile of exam papers to learn. I know that I must be really serious if I want to enroll to Mitsuhashi. When I got home, there's already Niichan and Manami-san, my soon-to-be-sister-in-law, inside. They're talking about serious things, so I just slip to my room. I don't want to intrude their discussion, though.

"Osaka?" a shadow of Manami-san's sound comes over to my room.

"Yes, my company suddenly…" then comes Niichan's sound. He sounds very serious.

I don't mean to overhear their conversation, but it just can be simply heard to my room. Our house is small, by the way. There's only a living room, Niichan's room, my room, a kitchen and a toilet. Living in the center of Tokyo is sure expensive, and we can only afford this. However, as long as I'm with Niichan, it doesn't matter.

Then, I decide to open the papers Usagi-san gives me to learn. I learnt almost all the formulas previously, so I don't have a hard time when it comes to answering the problems. But I don't know why, tonight I can't concentrate well…


	2. Does it hurt to live alone?

A week later.

One week is fast. Now comes my important day, and also for Niichan. Niichan is getting married in a nearby church, and I'll be taking Mitsuhashi Daigaku's entrance exam. I promised to come after my exam finished, and Niichan agreed.

"Do your best, I'm rooting for you!" Niichan said when I'm leaving. The bride car will pick up Niichan next hour. Actually, it's Usagi-san's car, by the way. He agreed to be the bride driver. Ah, how nice is it.

I checked all things necessary, and after it, enter the examination room. This examination room is full with students from elite high school; I can notice it from their uniform. I suddenly feel very anxious. But when I remember Niichan's face and words, and also the hours Usagi-san spent teaching me, I feel at ease.

The exam papers are then distributed. When the bell rings, I opened it. It's exactly like what Usagi-san said to me, the problems are the same, but only the numbers changed. This way, I can fill this. I put all the formulas that Usagi-san had teached me, and managed to settle the exam fine.

"The exam sure is hard!" a boy that sits two chairs in front of me said that.

"Yeah, it is. What majors do you aiming to enter?" a girl from beside my chair answered.

"Japanese Literature"

The conversation just flows until I leave. I guess it's around 12:00 when I left. I rushed to the church, and luckily, the ceremony is still in process. I don't want to miss this precious moment!

"Kajiwara Manami, do you accept Takahashi Takahiro as your husband?" a pastor asked to Manami-san. This is the peak of Niichan's wedding.

"Yes, I do". After Manami-san said that, I know that it's time to start calling her Neechan. The same question is also passed to Niichan.

"Takahashi Takahiro, do you accept Kajiwara Manami as your wife?"

"Yes, I do" Niichan said, in a serious face. Niichan looks very calm in this sacred ritual, and by seeing his face, I know that I feel relieved. Usagi-san is sitting beside Niichan, being the best man in this ceremony. He cried and his tears overflow. I can't tell what tear is it. But I hope it's a happy one, so that he can finally let Niichan go peacefully.

Niichan and Neechan, the way I called Manami-san from now on, exchanged rings with a relieved face. Now that I noticed it, Neechan looks pretty in her gown. And her bright smile is also great. I understand now why Niichan falls head over heels to Neechan until he decided to marry her.

Niichan and Neechan held hands and leave the altar. Usagi-san then silently called my name. "Misaki, wanna switch roles? You're his relative, so you should be the best man actually"

I agreed. "Yes"

I walked beside Niichan, and followed his steps. Usagi-san is behind. After the process, we go straight home; Niichan doesn't make any big reception. A simple marriage is what he wanted, he said.

During the drive, Usagi-san handed something to Niichan. "Use this, take time for you two. Let me take care of Misaki" he said.

"Eh?" I'm shocked.

"You'll sleep over in my condo tonight. Let Takahiro have his time with Manami…" Usagi-san smiled. "Ah, Misaki, don't forget to lock your home's door"

"And now, where'll we head to?" Niichan asked.

"I'll take you two to a place. Give the receptionist that envelope that I handed before" Usagi-san replied, with a smile. "Consider this as a wedding present from me"

"Really? Thank you, Usagi!" As usual, Niichan is excited when he receives something from Usagi-san, even the simple ones.

Half an hour later, we finally arrived to the place Usagi-san wanted Niichan and Neechan to spend a night in. The place is a five-star hotel, in a peaceful place near the prefecture border.

"Stay for two nights. I'll take care of Misaki" Usagi-san said, while hugging Niichan.

"Ah, Usagi, thank you… And let me go, please" Niichan laughed.

Unlike the usual Usagi-san, he let Niichan go easily. His eyes don't bear any loneliness anymore. I think he finally can let Niichan go with Neechan, which is good. I don't want him to cry again.

"Nah, Misaki, let's go. I have some work piling up in my condo" he grabbed my hand, and walks me to his car. Confused with his action, I followed him, and go straight.

We don't have any words on our way back to the condo. Neither I, nor Usagi-san, want to break this silence. When we arrived, only some short words broke that.

"I'll be off working, please feel just comfortable. Should you need anything, I'll be on my room" he said. His voice is colder than usual. I nodded, and then finally sleep in the sofa after entering and getting some cup noodles for lunch.

A few hours later, Usagi-san pokes my back. "You'll catch a cold if you still sleep like that". I wake up, and see the clock. It's already a bit late.

"Usagi-san, want some dinner?" I asked him, while I open his fridge. It's just like a single man's fridge, full of instant foods, without any proper ingredients around. "Geez, you'll ruin your health if you still eat instants, Usagi-san". I scolded him then.

"Well, sorry for being single. Please heat up one of the frozen pork buns for me" Usagi-san laughed. After I heated the food, we have the dinner together and talked about various things.

"Nah, Usagi-san, does it hurt to live alone?" I asked, jokingly.

"There's nothing wrong with it, if I recall correctly. I enjoyed it that way" Usagi-san lifted up his glasses, and smiled gently. "And at this rate, I'm already getting used with this, so I hate it when people invades my personal spaces"

"I see" I then replied him. "And honestly, when I saw you managed to live alone all the time, I thought that you're very brave"

I don't know why exactly is, but suddenly Usagi-san sighed. "I'm actually not that brave, as I can still feel a bit anxious too. When I see you're having a happy life with Takahiro, I started to think, ah, how dear is it to have a family or at least, a lover who watch you constantly…"

From his tone, I know that he's lonely. And I deeply regretted what I've said before. "U-usagi-san… Sorry… I don't mean to insult you or what…"

He then sighed once more. "Nope, it's not your fault. Hey, why don't you eat up already? This bun stinks when it's cold"

I then take a deep sigh. "Okay!"


End file.
